BENGALURU: One stretch of the flyover on Outer Ring Road - towards Yeswanthpur and after Laggere Bridge - is under threat, as tonnes of garbage and debris is rotting under this part of flyover. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is repairing the underpass here currently, a mountain of garbage has up piled around the pillars of the flyover, and has been rotting there for over six months now.
Talking to CE, Rajarajeshwarinagar MLA Munirathna alleged that the contractor responsible for handling solid waste management here, is lying to the civic body. He said “This garbage dumping site under the flyover has already been visited by the Chief Minister last year, yet no action has been taken.”
While ward numbers 69, 42 and 38 fall under this region, all the appointed corporators, including Manjula Narayanswamy of Laggere, claimed that they have been doing their bit to tackle this issue. However, Muniratna, who has been elected MLA for the second consecutive term, asserted, “While BBMP has called tenders and provided 21 auto tippers, only two vehicles are in use.”
The MLA also alleged that while the BBMP gets approval from the RTO to use these auto tippers, it was found out that there are also private vehicles registered for the job. These private vehicles, he said, are tractors, Ambassador cars, Omnis, SUVs and passenger vehicles. “I have the details of these private vehicles, the numbers of which I have retrieved and I will share these discrepancies with the BBMP,” Muniratna alleged.
BBMP Joint Commissioner Balshekhar H confirmed that complaints have been filed against the accused individuals responsible for handling the garbage menace. He said, “A complaint was filed this year in July against the contractor for using private vehicles.”
Balshekhar refused to reveal the name of the contractor. He added, “The BBMP is now deciding on a new contractor for solid waste management.” Balshekhar also told us that one of his superintendent engineers and an assistant executive engineer, Bhaskar, had raised complaints earlier this year. Bhaskar was unavailable for comment.
Who is responsible for the stretch?
The mound of garbage is now touching the roof under the flyover, but authorities — BBMP and Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) — are not acting due to confusion over who is responsible for this piece of land. A BBMP official alleged that the BDA is yet to hand over the road to them, while on the other hand, another BBMP official said that the BDA is finding it hard to acquire the land from the private party that owns it.
However, BDA engineer Ravindra Babu hinted that all construction has been completed, and has been handed over to the BBMP. Meanwhile, the locals residing in slums in the area are suffering due to the stink, which has been around for about nine to ten months.Balshekhar and Muniratna assured that the garbage will be cleared immeditely.